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Show VfrmilT'- m I I r I " Kids today spend, on the average, They don't subscribe to instant grati- nMpj'.j am about 14V4s minutes per day with one or fication. AJLJLLwJL1 both parents. And 1214 minutes of that 4. Motivate them to establish (A summary of Dr. Stephen Glenn's opening time is devoted to correcting, directing, priorities for what they need to do address at .a state Parent Education Training warning, threatening and coercion, before what they want to do. Instead of ):?lS"np) , , rather than talking, listening, learning relying on their parents to anticipate The rate of young people under 18 and loving. their needs, motivate them to put their who use illegal drugs or alcohol has Fbr the family in today's culture, own lives in order, risen from 23 percent in 1970 to 73-86 there. is little stability. Families today 5. Teach them to listen to others percent in 1980. The family plays an move around a great deal. As a result, and feel why people say things, integral part in this drama of drug and kids have very little exposure to their Listening, really hearing others, shows alcohol abuse. It may be a root cause extended families grandparents, respect for others and is closely for someone to start abusing drugs and aunts, uncles and cousins. At school, connected to self-esteem. I .l U-itI I alcohol. At the same time, it is part of the kids deal with fragmentation all 6. Give them the experience in WiWWWWXM the solution. But to understand how day. They have too many role models to making mature human judgments and , . - the family can play such opposite rolls choose from. And with more parents decisions, based on moral and ethical Nom-isao Norm-urn you have to understand the changes ' not at home, more children and youth values. They will still test things, but high interaction .. .....low interaction that the American family is enduring. turn to peer groups where might rules " will know better how to make intel- homogenous value system .......... heterogenous By age 12 children should have a set or majority popularity is most ligent decisions. consonant role models .. disonantroie models of essential tools -life skills- important 7. And most important, kids need to nThrrtrm!anrienCed mm ' which they need to use as they mature, , ,,Instead reasons for know they are loved and respected 1 general. few generation relationship, especially in adolescence. Because of failure, we should be studying the steps because they exist. They need to recog- no real -peer group ... heavyemphasi, on -peer-group changes which have taken place in the for success. The three essential ingre- nize that although what they do isnt fewhoursofeducation ..................... manynoursofeducation structureof American family life many dientsare: (1) discipline, (2) always good, they themselves are O.K. low level of information huge surplus of information American children have not develorjed judgment, and (3) responsibility. But at all times. low technology high technology them. Most parents wonder why. . how can these three attributes be built When children feel in control of ZSKT'"b feWt Parents blame teachers and teachers into our kids? Here are seven rules for their own lives and environment, they ...'Z:... mmLmm blame parents in a vicious cycle which succeeding: are less likely to turn to drugs and I extended families dominant nuclear families dominant I I 1 leaves children taking the rap. 1. Instead of telling them what to violence. fewbroken homes (ioi5) many broken homes (38 42) Why are today's American vouth do, help them see what to do. Above all, Youth need training and apprentice- wort centered at home wo separate from home receiving less adequate parental believe in and treat sh'P for responsibility, discipline and littte anonymity general training than their counterparts 50 respect. sound judgment. Parents are not to L ; ; J years ago? The answer lies in the Insist that children be contn- blame for the changes that have changing structure of family life in the buting members of the family, in good weakened the structure of families, but United States. Significant changes times as well as bad. They need to feel we are responsible for the impact of shown in the chart to the right have important and needed-Give them these changes on ourselves and our placed American families at great risk meaningful roles in the family, not children. We need to rekindle the of both disintegration and having merely chores. American spirit of working positively problem children Successful children have no and responsibly to shape a better life strong faith in "miracle solutions." for America's youth. qjliol, Diugs, and tho Eldsifr ggg,- 1 " 1 1 ; ' 1 1 ' 1 1 With so much emphasis on the assume that a negative side effect is look like dementia, such as forget- problems of youth, we sometimes forget caused by their age, and not a drug. fulness, short attention span, and that many older Utahns have problems A second problem is the use of confusion. It can cause traffic with alcohol and drugs. Eleven percent multiple doctors. When Doctor A accidents. of the American population is over 65. prescribes a medication for arthritis A double danger exists with alcohol That same group consumes 30 percent and Doctor B treats indigestion, the since it is a drug which often interacts of the drugs sold over-the-counter. patient must tell both doctors. Doctor with both prescription and non-Americans non-Americans spend $13 billion a year B maybe treating a problem caused by prescription medications. When on prescriptions. Recent studies reveal the arthritis medication and not even alcohol and these other medicines are that 50 percent of all prescriptions know it It is not uncommon for older used at the same time, their combined filled are taken incorrectly. In the late persons to be treated by a number of effects can intensify the older person's 1970's, 38,000 elderly people in health professionals who don t know reaction, impair their judgment, and 0 America died from their prescriptions. each other. reduce their alertness far beyond what O . ( (j The problems with abuse of non-pre- A third problem comes partly from would normally occur if these drugs v scription drugs is potentially as bad the economic reality of aging. Medicine were not used together. A general rule T7 ifV. due to the lack of controls on their use. costs a lot of money. The American -for all of us is to avoid using alcohol ClJIrf2r'vVf h fl'l Drug interactions head the list of the Association of Retired Persons recently with any type medicine until we have uKJrxjOT Spl Jr ten greatest dangers for the 50 plus published a survey which revealed that first checked with a doctor or lr x-'x generation, says the Consumer Federa- older persons with incomes less than pharmacist. I IjJ 1 Tl tion of America. $10,000 are spending as much as 15 The most important thing to know wTXX f As we age, we respond differently to percent of their income on health care. about alcohol misuse is that help is I J I H1 r" l medication. An older person is more The natural tendency is to try to cut available. Questions are welcomed by I 111 I L3i L Jl likely to develop an undesirable costs. To do this, the elderly will not the many agencies supported by the rl I vtTitV. J it reaction to any medication, prescrip- fill prescriptions, reduce the daily State Division of Alcoholism and Drugs JrfT 3(s C 1 tion, or over-the-counter than a dosage to make medicines last longer, (533-6532). Treatment may be resi- y J . VV f' rX younger person who takes exactly the or save medicine to take for self- dential or out-patient and is available t , jt same drug and dosage. This is partly diagnosing with the next illness. throughout the State. due to changes that occur in the liver Sometime medicines are shared with A fairly new service in Utah is 3. MYTH: People with alcohol and drug and kidneys. These two organs are vital others that have similar symptoms. All prevention and education programs problems only hurt themselves, because they break down drugs and of these can create more serious which are aimed at the older adult. They usually hurt other family remove them from the body. With age, Pen?s- tk t PraJn focus f"nfda- members, employers and strangers on the these two organs function less effec- Alcohol abuse is a different but mental knowledge and skills that every highway tively. The result is that drugs remain parallel issue. Until recently, drinking person should have in order to avoid w' in the body longer. problems among older people were unintentional misuse, as well as how to Besides the aging process itself, largely ignored by professionals and stay as healthy as possible after 55. other tilings can lead to drug misuse. A society at large. As with drugs, alcohol Through the Quality Aging Program, recent FDA survey showed that 96 affects a person differently in advanced adults can enroll in workshops that percent of all patients do not ask their years than when younger. The sensa- help them to reduce health risks, doctor or pharmacist about the pre- tion caused by drinking occurs with These classes are available free of scription medicines. This is coupled with less alcohol as we age. Alcohol can charge. That's not a bad price, but even the fact that 70 percent of patients said affect an older person in strange ways. better, the adoption of a healthier life- they receive no counseling about pre- For example, it can hide the pain that style is the cheapest and best form of cautions and possible side effects. It is acts as a warning sign of a heart healthcare, hardly a surprise that the elderly attack. It can produce symptoms that |